


Friends Who Have Sex Sometimes

by steveandbucky



Series: Platonic, my ass [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Casual Sex, Crack, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson is a Gift, basically boyfriends who don't realise they're boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-22
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2018-05-02 22:46:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5266700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steveandbucky/pseuds/steveandbucky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“And we’re not in a relationship, casual or whatever. We’re still just friends. We’re best friends, that’s what we’ve always been,” he pauses to sip the last of his lemonade, his tone completely casual and unconcerned. “Friends who have sex sometimes. Nothing weird about that.”</p><p>Sam nods like he understands, though he doesn’t, not even a little bit. “You mean…it’s all, what? Friendly? Platonic?”</p><p>--</p><p>How the Avengers find out about Steve and Bucky's ~unconventional~ relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friends Who Have Sex Sometimes

 

It’s Sam who finds out first. And then immediately informs Natasha.

When he called Steve, saying he was going to be staying in New York for a few days and asking if he could crash on his couch, Steve was more than happy to accommodate him. Of course, had Sam asked, Tony would have set up an entire floor for him in the Tower and given him an access key to the private elevator so that Sam could come and go as he pleased, but maybe that’s why Sam didn’t ask. It was only until much later that he came to regret that.

Upon his arrival, Steve tells Sam he can have his room, and that he’ll just ‘bunk with Bucky’.

Bucky snorts at that and says, “’S long as you shower before bed,” and Steve rolls his eyes and shoots back with a teasing, “Jerk!” and that’s that.

Sam turns in around midnight and falls asleep surprisingly easily, given the unfamiliar surroundings; but the mattress and pillow are nice and firm, and he’s too exhausted after the long flight from D.C. to New York. He does wake up after a few hours, abruptly springing into a sitting position as soon as he hears the _bang-bang-bang_. Then he recognises that it’s a rhythmic sound, kind of like a headboard banging against the wall… as soon as he hears the loud, _“Fuck, Bucky!”_ followed by a deep, throaty moan, Sam suddenly realises what exactly he’s listening to and has to clamp his mouth shut with both hands to keep the horrified shriek from escaping. _Did he really just hear Captain Freaking America moaning? And why on earth did Stark not have better soundproofing in this goddamn Tower?!_

Sam jumps out of bed and starts looking for his earphones in his duffel bag, then grabs his phone and puts some music on to block out the noises. He opens the messaging app on his phone and decides to text Natasha.

_“HOW DO YOU UNHEAR SEX NOISES?”_

Despite it being nearly 4AM, Natasha replies within minutes, sending him a series of question marks.

Even as he writes the reply, Sam can’t believe it. _“Think I just heard Captain America and the Winter Soldier going at it in the next room…”_

_“Really?”_

_“SEND HELP! SEND BLEACH!”_

Natasha replies with a series of crying-while-laughing emoji and Sam rolls his eyes and tosses his phone to the pillow next to his. He tries to relax with the songs of his favourite soundtrack and sooner or later ends up falling asleep again.

He finds Bucky on the patio the next day, sitting on a lounge chair and sipping lemonade, his gaze fixed on the view of the city that stretches out in front of him. Steve is gone for a briefing on a solo mission, so Sam takes the opportunity to talk to Bucky about it. Besides, he’s not sure if he’ll ever be able to look Steve in the eye anymore.

“What do you mean, Steve and I ‘are a thing’?” Bucky asks, frowning at him in confusion.

“You know, dating. Each other.” Sam waves a hand around, making a vague gesture. “Romantically involved, what do you call it.”

Is Bucky really gonna make him spell it out for him?

“Oh,” Bucky says, turning his gaze back to the city. “No, it’s not really like that. We just have sex sometimes.”

Sam takes a minute to make sure he heard right. “Oh, so it’s a casual thing. No strings attached, that kind of thing?”

Bucky starts frowning again.

“Friends with benefits?” Sam adds helpfully.

“Benefits.”

“Yeah.”

Bucky shrugs. “Sure, if that’s what you kids are calling it these days.” He says then, a slight smirk curving his mouth.

“Well, lots of people do that kind of thing nowadays. Casual relationships, you know?”

“Yeah,” Bucky mumbles, though he looks thoughtful. “It kinda sounds like… I don’t know. I don’t like the sound of that, ‘friends with benefits,’”

Sam shrugs. “You don’t have to call it that if you don’t want to,” he says, speaking in a softer tone. The last thing he wants was to meddle and mess up their relationship – which, in his opinion, is kind of messed up to begin with, but if it works for them then who is he to judge?

Bucky hums in response. When he speaks again, it’s like he picks up where he’d left of, partially ignoring what Sam said. “And we’re not in a relationship, casual or whatever. We’re still just friends. We’re best friends, that’s what we’ve always been,” he pauses to sip the last of his lemonade, his tone completely casual and unconcerned. “Friends who have sex sometimes. Nothing weird about that.”

Sam nods like he understands, though he doesn’t, not even a little bit. “You mean…it’s all, what? Friendly? Platonic?”

“Yeah,”

Sam sighs as he rubs a hand across his face. _Goddamn super soldiers._

 

~~

 

It’s a Friday night, or a very early Saturday morning a few weeks later, when Tony and Bruce walk into the common room to find Steve lying on the couch under a few thick, fluffy blankets with a bunch of pillows strewn about around him.

Steve sits up a little when the two men walk in. “Oh, we thought you’d turned in for the night,” he says, a slight blush colouring his cheeks as he smiles sheepishly.

“We?” Tony asks.

Bucky pokes his head out from under the blankets, grinning at them.

Bruce drops the cardboard box he was carrying, staring at them mouth agape while Tony actually jumps back a little and lets out an undignified shriek like he’s seen a ghost or vampire or something.

“Sorry,” Bucky says, though he does not sound sorry at all, with that shit-eating grin still on his face.

Steve at least has the decency to look embarrassed.

Tony stammers, still looking halfway between shocked and horrified. “You…what…how…”

Bruce shuffles around uncomfortably, until he mutters an excuse and goes out the same way he’d come in, dragging Tony away with him.

Steve turns to look at Bucky then, and one shared look is all it takes for the two of them to burst into hysterical giggles.

 

~~

 

Clint is rummaging through the cupboards in the kitchen, looking for any kind of coffee that’s not hazelnut-flavoured – or worse, instant – when he hears the bedroom door open and the two residents of the apartment he’s in shuffle into the kitchen, barefoot and barely dressed, laughing about something.

“Hmm,” Steve frowns when he sees Clint, though he’s also trying to bite back a smile. “I don’t remember giving you a key,” he says as he takes a seat at the breakfast island.

“I run out of coffee,” Clint says with a shrug, then goes back to the task at hand. He finds a jar of French filter coffee and starts making it using Steve’s fancy coffee machine, which is far too complicated for his liking.

It’s only when he turns around again, fresh cup of coffee in his hand that he notices the tell-tale trail of bruises around Bucky’s throat and down his bare chest.

“Who bit you?” he asks with a teasing smirk.

Bucky simply smiles in response, ducking his head to avoid Clint’s gaze while Steve blushes and rubs his neck nervously.

Clint very nearly drops his mug.

“No fucking way.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Bucky starts to say as he reaches out and grabs the tablet from the far end of the table.

“Yeah, it’s just sex,” Steve says with a nonchalant shrug, stifling a yawn which just makes his statement sound even more of a mundane fact than the earth-shattering news it actually is. “Hey, pour me a mug of that, will you?”

Clint does as he’s asked, though he’s distracted by the newfound information.

Bucky gets up then, passes the tablet to Steve and makes his way around the table. “You want pancakes, Stevie?”

Steve smiles a little. “Sure, if you’re volunteering to make them.”

Bucky hums as he goes through the cabinets, looking for a bowl, a whisk and a frying pan, then walks around Clint, who’s still standing frozen in his spot, to get the milk and eggs out of the fridge.

“Bucky’s pancakes are to die for,” Steve tells Clint then, as casually as he told him about the nature of his relationship with Bucky.

Clint blinks at him. “Are you telling me,” he says slowly, addressing no one in particular. “That Captain America and the Winter Soldier are fuck buddies?”

Bucky lets out snort of laughter. “Ha, fuck buddies. That’s a new one.” He finds the spatula he’s looking for and turns around to look at Steve with a cheeky grin. “Hey buddy, wanna fuck?”

Steve chuckles and replies with a wink. “Sure, pal,”

Bucky considers it for a moment before he shrugs and tosses the spatula aside.

“Pancakes can wait,” he says and all but drags Steve out of the room.

Clint stares at them with his mouth hanging open. The next three things he hears is Bucky asking, “You wanna top again?” Steve replying, “Yeah, sure,” and the sound of his now-empty mug shattering to pieces as it hits the floor. Then he runs towards the front door, hastily taking off his hearing aids on his way out for good measure.

 

~~

 

Thankfully, Thor is utterly undisturbed when he finds out. Steve tells him while the three of them are having breakfast together one day, saying that he since Thor isn’t around as often as the others, he felt the need to catch him up on the news. Thor nods, says he’s happy for them, and starts digging into his scrambled eggs. A moment later he looks up at Bucky, smiling a little.

“Is this why you turned down the advances of that lovely gentleman who tried courting you at the charity gala last month? Because you are now romantically involved with Steve?”

“We’re not romantically involved per se,” Bucky says, his tone a little dry. “But I guess, yeah.”

Steve, for some reason, finds that amusing. “Well, it depends how he did it. See, Bucky here is a bit of a delicate soul.”

Bucky shoots him a sharp look.

“You gotta be romantic about it, you know,” Steve continues. “Maybe bring him some flowers, ask him to dance, and-”

“You wanna get your dick sucked later, you should shut the fuck up right about now.”

Steve laughs then, and Thor laughs with him. When they quiet down, Steve goes back to his breakfast, but Thor looks thoughtful.

“But you love each other.” He says, in a tone of voice that suggests he’s stating fact, not posing a question.

Steve and Bucky share a brief look, looking a little embarrassed. It is a fact indeed, something they both know, but they’re not very good at communicating that fact between them.

Steve turns back to Thor eventually and says, “Yeah,”

“But you’re not together, as a couple.”

Bucky replies after a minute. “No,”

Thor glances between them for a moment, a frown fixed on his face before he shakes his head, and with a cryptic smile that suggests he knows something the two men don’t, goes back to finishing his breakfast.

 

~~

 

“Nat said something to me yesterday,” Bucky says quietly, his arms folded behind his head and his eyes glued to the ceiling. “Said we need to have The Talk.”

Next to him, Steve gives a little grunt in response, burying his face deeper into the pillow. He’s always so quick to fall asleep after sex, something that has turned out to be a good thing for those nights where he has trouble falling asleep; all it takes is Bucky straddling him and riding him until they both come, and then he’ll be out like a light.

“Wake up, you big lug,” Bucky says, nudging him forcefully.

Steve just groans and rolls over, pulling the comforter over his shoulders. Bucky sighs, shifts closer to the blond so that he’s spooning him. He starts pressing kisses along Steve’s shoulders, while his hand sneaks around to curl around his dick. Steve hums contentedly at that, starting to get hard again, apparently not opposed to the idea of going a second round.

Bucky retreats his hand as soon as he thinks Steve is awake enough, having rolled on his back and leaning up to kiss Bucky on the mouth.

“Can we talk?” he asks, a small smile playing on his lips.

Steve makes a small noise of annoyance. “You goddamn tease.”

“Yeah, yeah, you love me,” Bucky’s grin widens.

Steve rolls his eyes but sits up a little, then smiles at his friend. “What do you want to talk about?”

Bucky bites down on his bottom lip, suddenly hesitating. He takes a moment to collect his thoughts before he speaks up. “Are we…are we doing this out of convenience?”

“Convenience? What do you mean?”

Bucky drops back onto the pillow, staring up at the ceiling again. “I know you’re not really interested in dating anyone yet, and that’s okay, you’ve got your reasons. I’m nowhere near ready for that, either, so I get you, you know?”

Steve nods.

“So this…this thing between us…is it like being friends with benefits? That’s what Sam said when I told him. The benefits being the sex,” Bucky is rambling and he knows it, but it’s proving hard to get his thoughts in order. “Why do we have sex, Steve?” he finally asks, letting out a frustrated sigh.

Steve is looking at him with an unreadable expression on his face, his eyes glinting with something like curiousity or amusement. “Because it’s fun?” he says, though the uncertainty in his voice makes it sound like a question. “It’s pretty amazing, actually. We’re really good at it, aren’t we?”

Bucky huffs out a little laugh at that.

“Sometimes, it’s to blow off some steam. Or because we have nothing better to do.” Steve continues listing the reasons with a thoughtful, but not worried, expression on his face. Then he shifts closer and pillows his head on Bucky’s shoulder, nuzzling his face into the crook of the man’s neck. “To comfort each other, take care of each other. Right?”

“Yeah, that’s how it started.”

Steve presses a kiss to Bucky’s chin and Bucky spreads his arm out to invite him closer. “It was your idea, Buck, remember?”

“Mm,” Bucky murmurs. “Was a good idea.”

“Yeah,”

Bucky sighs. “So is that…all there is to it? We’re just friends who have sex sometimes?”

Steve sits up then, leaning against one elbow while resting his other hand on Bucky’s chest. He’s smiling for some odd reason. “You know,” he says slowly. “If you want to take me out on a proper date, you could just ask. If you want to.”

Bucky looks away as an involuntary smile grows on his lips. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good,” Steve leans down to press a brief, soft kiss to Bucky’s lips, then rolls around, ready to go back to sleep. “’Night, Bucky,”

 

~~

 

“You know, Normal People usually go out on a few dates and then start having sex,” Natasha remarks, casual as always, but she’s smiling fondly at them.

Sam isn’t as good at keeping his cool. “I knew it! I just…I knew it! PLATONIC MY ASS!” he calls out, pointing an accusatory finger at them. “You two have been best friends for an eternity and you basically live together! There’s no way it could have been just sex!”

Bucky huffs out a sigh. “Here it comes…” he whispers near Steve’s ear, slipping an arm around the man’s waist.

Sure enough, Sam jumps to his feet just then and cries out, _“I FUCKING CALLED IT!”_

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you think of it! thanks for reading! :)
> 
>  


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